My new life

OK...what I'm about to tell you all may is really exciting for me, but it may be quite a shock to you all! Honestly I'm quite nervous, but here it goes any way! Actually before I tell you all, do you have any guesses? Alright here it goes...

...I gave my life to the Lord at church yesterday :D Are you shocked? Well here's my story:

When I was eight years old on May 2, 2002, I "accepted" the Lord into my heart the same night as my dad. Well I did it to make "mommy" and "daddy" happy. Two months later I was baptized...for the wrong reason too. At nine I gave my heart to the Lord, telling Him to hold it in His mighty hands. To give it to the young man He wants for me at the right time! But my struggles didn't start until I was about thirteen. At thirteen my mom and dad told me that I wasn't allowed to go to the youth group at the church we were going to at that time. Well as you may have guessed I was quite mad, and blamed everyone for it...even the Lord (very mature huh?). Months passed (I had repented already) and my parents told me that they didn't think it was a good idea that I was hanging around the friends I was associating with at our church. OK pause for a moment. The "friends" I had at the time weren't "bad" so to speak, they just weren't the kind my parents didn't want me to have. OK back to the story...well at this time I was secretly dealing with pride and rebellion. So I became extremely angry (inwardly) at my parents, my peers, our pastor (not sure why) and the Lord (this time I didn't repent). Again months passed, I turned fourteen, and was struggling. I had no idea why! We had started going to a new church, and there I met my three wonderful friends. As time went by and I started going to the high school AWANA group, I found my-self struggling a whole lot. I had stopped getting into the word. I was memorizing the verses I needed to know in order to pass the lessons on Wednesday nights, but I wasn't reading the Bible passages to go along with the lesson. I was secretly saying God's name in vain when I hurt my-self. When I turned fifteen things got even worse! I denounced God, telling Him that I didn't need Him, I could make it on my own! I was secretly saying words that I wasn't allowed to say out loud. I had invited a young boy to the high school AWANA group for the wrong reason. Which led me to wanting to give up my goal of purity. I was secretly listening to secular music. And a whole lot of other things! So when I turned sixteen, I started thinking really hard on why I was struggling. I couldn't understand it, when I had denounced Him a year ago my struggles weren't that bad (yeah right!). So yesterday our pastor asked "if you are 100% sure you were going to Heaven raise your hand". I didn't...but I did when he asked "if you aren't sure if your saved, but would like to be, then raise your hand". I did, and a sweet young lady took me to a room, showed me some verses that told me I was not saved, and explained everything to me. Then she asked me if I would like to be saved...and I said yes! It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that I cannot without Him. I needed Him badly! I'm so happy that I don't have to struggle anymore!

And since yesterday, there is a verse I absolutely love, and it is:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!

II Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

*I pray that you all have a marvelous Monday night!*

Upcoming events

Alright everyone, the details I promised you all!  The ministry I have been working on, is actually a magazine for young ladies of all ages.  This magazine encourages them in modesty, purity, and in their walk with the Lord.  We will be sending out a sample issue hopefully very soon!  Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this ministry!  Below I've listed some of the things that will be happening here on my blog!

1. I will be hosting photography contests, the first one starts April 1 and ends April 10.  If you wish to enter this contest please leave a comment and let me know.  Then send me an email with your picture attached, daloalsy@gmail.com.  Pictures with inappropriate content will not be allowed!  Then the winner of the photo contest will have their picture on the cover of the next issue!
2. Do you all remember I told you about how I want to start interviewing young ladies.  Well those are going to start very soon!
3. I have actually changed the name of Beautiful and Feminine to Unfading Beauty, because of an article in the magazine that is similar to this challenge!  Unfading Beauty will be starting April 12 and will end 19.

I'm soooo excited for all of the upcoming events to take place!!

Blessings in Him,

 



My New Year Journey

Happy 2011 everyone! I'm so excited about this year, there are a lot of things that will be happening. Like my sweet 16 in April, Amber's baby shower, my niece/nephew who will be born late June/early July, other family birthdays, etc. But the most thing that I'm excited about is my New Year resolution. Which is...femininity and homemaking!
For femininty I will be hosting The Beautiful and Feminine Challenge is a two week challenge, I haven't thought about all the details.  More details coming soon!
For homemaking there will be a 12 week cooking challenge where everyone who enters will cook a meal for either breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  More details coming soon!  I will also be doing interviews called Daughters of the King. Where I will be interviewing young ladies and posting the interviews on my blog.

Again I'm so excited for this new year!

Happy New Year!!!!!

May God bless you always!
Alisha

What is a true young man?

Lately I have had the question "What is a true young man?" run through my head. This question made me stop and think, because honestly to tell you the truth I have never really thought about this before until now. So below is my answer to this question:

A true young man loves the Lord with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He is not scared to tell everyone about his Savior. He puts others before him-self. He loves being part of God's army. He is willing to lay down his life for the Lord and his wife. He saves his whole heart for the young lady the Lord has for him. He loves to make his wife laugh. He takes his role as leader seriously. He comforts his wife when she is sad and lonely. He helps out around the house. He cooks dinner for his wife when she's sick or when the baby is born.

I'm sure I'll come up with other answers to this questions as the years go by!

If you have never come up with ways that you think a true young man should be, then I encourage you to do so. I'm sure I'll be keeping this list for the future, because these are some of the qualities that I want in my husband.

Hugs from Texas,
Alisha

October 31 (Halloween)

I know that October 31st is coming up soon, so I thought that I would just write about it. My family and I used to celebrate Halloween and thought it was all fine and dandy.
After some research we decided to stop celebrating this holiday and do something else. I was not very happy with this decision, but I need to obey my parents like the Bible says. Instead of dressing up and trick or treating, we decided to rent a movie, have treats, and just stay at home. I really liked that I idea so I went on with my life without complaining to the Lord. After some years past they did more research and found out it is a Pagan Holiday. About 600 years ago the Pagans used to worship their god’s. Remember the first two commandments in the Bible Thou shalt not have no other god’s before me and Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Remember from the Halloween movies, the black cats, well cats in general are considered "holy." The Pagans used to sacrifice cats, sad huh? You know one of the things I liked most about Halloween, it was to carve pumpkins! Did you know that there used to be a guy named Jack? He would walk around carrying a lantern to keep the evil spirits away from him. So everyone would make the lanterns out of pumpkins to keep the evil spirits away from them. As you can see there is nothing glorifying to the Lord Almighty through this holiday.
My parents have discussed about having a costume party after October 31st. Now there is nothing wrong with having a costume party, until you dress up like zombies, mummies, witches, Medusa, the devil, or any other evil creature. I hope you all have a different perspective on this evil oriented holiday.

Being "normal" in our society

Lately I've been struggling with worrying about what other people think about me! Whether it's with my weight, the way I dress, my beliefs, etc. And wondering if I will ever get over this struggle. Because I know that when Christ was here on Earth, He did not care what other people thought about Him. Instead He was more worried about every ones future, and whether they will be spending eternity in Heaven or in Hell. But lately I've been wondering, what does our society see when they look at me?

Our society probably sees some kooky "teenager" who thinks having a boyfriend is a "sin," so they label me as a freak! So if that means that I am labeled a freak so be it, but I'll be a freak for my belief in Christ Jesus. Our society may even think that I'm some freak who doesn't know how to be normal. Well I don't know how to be "normal" the way our society thinks of normal, but I know how to be normal when it comes to purity & being around my family & friends. To me being normal is acting my-self, not something I'm not, like most girls in our society think they have to do in order to be a part of the popular crowd. My way of acting normal is playing with my sister, hurting my-self at least 10 - 20 times a day (I'm accident prone :D), having a GREAT time at the AWANA youth group I go to, or reading my Bible so I can hide His Word in my heart like He tells us to...that's my way of being normal. I know all this shouldn't bother me but it does! I'm still praying about this struggle and yielding it to God. I'm just truly thankful that I have Someone to catch me when I fall!

A sister in Christ and in Purity,
Alisha

Skirts vs. Pants

Have you ever been asked, "Why do you wear skirts?" Or "Why is it you don’t wear pants?" Okay the last one I have to admit I do have three pairs of pants, but I have around twelve to fifteen skirts. This is the answer I always give to the people who ask me why I do wear skirts most of the time: Because skirts are a whole lot more modest and feminine than pants. Year by year I’m learning this, I’m learning it slowly, but I’m learning. You’re probably thinking to your-self well pants can be feminine. Or they have a whole lot of mini skirts. Yeah they do have a whole lot of mini skirts today, but I don’t wear those, my mom, sister, and I wear the skirts that go past the knee-cap. And the pants I only wear my blue-jeans if I know I’ll be at my friend’s farm. But the other pairs I now wear often. The Bible tells us A man shall not dress like a woman, a woman shall not dress like a man. Sure the men in Scotland wear kilts, but that’s their culture.

It used to be that in the olden days the women were NEVER seen wearing pants, it was only the men. If the women were plowing when their husband was sick they would plow in their dresses or skirts. That’s how God wanted it to be, He wanted the men to look like men and the women to look like women.
I’m not telling you to go into your closet and get rid of all your pants, I’m basically telling you all the answer I give people (I did add in a little bit).

A goal worth living for

What exactly is purity? I have been asked this question so many times. The answer is this: purity isn’t just saving all of the important firsts for your wedding day. It’s also being pure in body, heart, and mind. Being pure isn’t a set of rules some Christian set up for a better world. Being pure is how God orchestrated the single and married life. To me my heart is a precious gift, that I will one day be able to give to my Prince Charming. Miss Sarah Mally explains it like this:
Pretend you’re a princess and the King calls you to His throne and tells you, "My daughter in this bag are 100 (a candy of your choice). I want you to go into town and give the candy to a special person. Now you may go." Suppose you ask Him, "But Father, who is this special person?" But He won’t tell you. So you go into town, and along the way you see your friend. So you think to your-self, He has to be that special person, I’ll just give him one piece of candy just in case. Soon your walking along and you meet another person, so you think to your-self, Oh he has to be the one, but I’ll give him one piece of candy just in case. Pretty soon you have given almost the whole bag of candy away. Then suddenly you meet someone and you just know that he is the special person your Father told you about. When you hand him the bag of candy, he counts to make sure all 100 pieces are all a counted for. All of a sudden he has a very disappointed look on his face and he asks you, "Where’s the rest of the candy?" Then you have to tell him that you gave other people his candy along the way.

I wonder what the King thought when He heard that His daughter didn’t give that special someone ALL of the candy? This story is similar to what is going on today in our society. There are young men and women today who are going on dates and thinking to themselves, well she/he has to be the one. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be able to stand at the altar on my wedding day and be able to give the man of my dreams my entire heart with no guilt.

If you would like to ask the Lord take control of your heart then below is a prayer I found while reading a book called A life of Faith: Millie Keith: Millie’s Faithful Heart:
Jesus, please hold my heart in Your hand. Don’t let me give it or any piece of it away. I want YOU to give it away in Your time, to the right person. Please hold it tight, lock it up, and keep the key. ~Amen~

PS. If you placed your heart in the hands of the Lord, I would love to know (if of course you would feel comfortable with it). If you want you can e-mail me or you can leave a comment.

A sister in Christ and in Purity,
Alisha

I Peter 3:1-4

"In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept Good News. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words. They will be won over by watching your pure, godly behavior. Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."

These verses really spoke to me when I read them, mostly because I'm all about wanting prettier clothes than the clothes I have right now, or wanting the jewelry at JC Penny that's like way out of my price range (this want is very, very, very slim, because we RARELY go to JC Penny). I am also constantly bombarded with the thoughts like: I'm not as pretty as the actresses that I see on TV or I don't know how my parents can think I'm beautiful, not to mention God!

I have also been struggling with the gentle and quiet spirit. I am really working on this and constantly praying that the Lord will help me in this area in my life.

Also the verse that says "They will be won over by watching your pure godly behavior..." I wonder what my behavior looks like in the eyes of the young men around me. This section of the passage really gets me thinking. Because I never know if my Prince Charming is watching. I'm sure I struggle in this area as well, I constantly pray that the Lord will reveal any weak areas in my life.

*Hope y'all had a blessed Labor Day*

A sister in Christ and in purity,
Alisha

A neat challenge

Meredith over at Striving to Serve at Home is hosting a challenge. The challenge is to make meals and a side dish for your family, and post about it at least every Friday. Meredith will be posting her first meal this coming Friday.

To join her challenge go to her blog and post a comment saying you'd like to join. I have her blog on my blog roll, so you can just click there or you can click on this link: http://strivingtoserveathome.blogspot.com

This challenge is a perfect opportunity to prepare to be a WONDERFUL COOK for our Prince Charming. This is a challenge you don't want to miss!

Many blessings!

A sister in Christ and in purity,
Alisha

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

I did it!

Yesterday I went to my first Threads of Love meeting and learned how to knit. While I was there the Lord blessed me with knitting needles, knitting looms, and baby yarn (I didn't know what I'd need). So last night I finished my first premie baby boy hat, I'll post pictures later. I also finished my first toddler sized hat, again you'll see pictures later.

And today Dad had to go to Laredo, TX so I took my knitting supplies and finished my third hat.

Threads of Love is a small non-profit organization that makes hats, booties, 18" blocks, blankets, and journals for Premature babies and the parents. To find out more about Threads of Love visit http://www.threadsoflove.org/

In His Grace,
Ali Ann

I'm so Excited!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I'm learning how to drive. And it's a manual transmission! Ssshhhhh! Don't tell anyone!

My mom and dad thought it would be a good idea to start me out early so that way I know what I'm doing when I ACTUALLY get my permit. My dad found vacant land with lots of roads that are perfect to practice on.

Well today my mom went to the DPS office and got the book for me to study. Now don't be worried - I have about one year to study the book before I take the test. Here in Texas you can't get your permit until you're fifteen. Can you believe that? My mom, dad, and I have been discussing this for quite some time, but we finally picked up the book.

Remember this is a secret! So ssshhh!

God Bless you all!